The plan for the next phase of Curiosity rover’s mission includes a range of environmental investigations. The atmospheric investigations will involve the routine REMS activities and DAN will be examining the water in the subsurface through passive measurements. Additionally, Curiosity will be studying the dust levels on its top surface and looking at the current opacity of the atmosphere at the crater rim. The rover will also be keeping an eye out for dust devils during this period.
Over the course of the mission, Curiosity has captured some impressive images of dust devils, with one particularly memorable one being taken on sol 2847, more than 1300 sols ago. For those interested in seeing dust devils in motion, there is a video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8lfJ0c7WQ8. It’s hard to believe how quickly time has passed since the mission began, especially when there is so much excitement and discovery taking place.